Sorry, conservatives, Dylann Roof is amongst YOUR ranks

What happened in backwards South Carolina is a tragedy that I try not to think about, but I’ve got these compelling thoughts that I feel I need to communicate. TYT (the Young Turks) is talking about how the shooter of a black church in Charleston, Dylann Roof was definitely an extreme conservative and it is quite relevant how his views inspired him to do his horrible deed.

I agree wholeheartedly with TYT. You see, it did not take long at all for the GOP crowd to start screaming from the rooftops that we liberals are politicizing the whole thing, that this was some isolated incident of racism on behalf of a sick kid, and that conservative sentiments on race did not play any role in this.

Can you say more bull than a rodeo?

Now, of course it would be unfair to say that all conservatives, or even the majority of conservatives, think anything like Roof. But we would be doing ourselves a disservice to ignore the kind of sentiment that influenced him. Who were Roof’s political influences? Were they TYT? No. Were they Amnesty International, the ACLU, or anything of the sort? Certainly not. They were the Council of Conservative Citizens (a well known hate group), and various white nationalist groups that identified as right wing, not left.

The right are very quick to say that liberals are the problem any time someone liberal causes any strife, but when a right-winger does it, they cry foul when we call them out. Already, conservatives are talking about how the confederate flag should not be removed from the South Carolina state capitol building. Now this indeed is a free country; you have the right to wave a confederate flag if you want to (you also assume the risks if someone is offended enough to start a fight with you, keep that in mind). But why are you making yourselves look bad by defending the use of it on a SC government building. Why does a government building in South Carolina need to fly a flag so offensive to almost every African American in the country? The right is unaware of the PR costs they are imposing on themselves and how this may ruin them in 2016 (we can only be so lucky).

The American right’s views on race have become so flippant and out in the open that they can now only deal with the Dylann Roof problem in two ways: denounce his racism, or, excuse it by calling it an isolated incident, effectively meaning there was no ideological convictions involved. This imply this wasn’t even a hate crime. If they take this approach, they basically have to maintain that he’s not even quite as bad as Trayvon Martin, and THAT is a rather awkward position to be in.

ReverbPress describes this spot on:

“Dylann Storm Roof‘s got prior arrests, a gun, a reputation for doing drugs, patches on his jacket that could be gang symbols, and one of those weird white names that’s spelled wrong. Plus he just murdered nine black people in a church, then got caught running away…Wait, make that driving away.

Police finally caught up with Roof and arrested him. For some strange reason, they didn’t shoot the Charleston shooter dead or take him on a “nickel ride.” Nor are the mainstream news outlets calling him a “thug” or a “terrorist.” Oh no. Like all those other white men and teenagers who commit mass murder with guns and bombs, we call Roof “mentally ill” and the media portrays him as some kind of disturbed loner.”

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Just a sick kid right? Except there are no signs he was mentally ill. And the drugs? Last I heard Xanax mellows people out, doesn’t turn them into racist maniacs. And there are far to many mentally ill young men who abuse drugs who do not go out and shoot people, so let’s get real here. You guys are sounding like frustrated little kids.

I’m sure many Republicans and conservatives are going to say that there were mass shooters who were registered Democrats or had liberal views, such as James Holmes. But the difference is that none of these shooters were motivated by their political views to carry out their actions. Holmes in fact, does show signs of mental illness, and Elliot Rodger had misogynistic views on women more characteristic of a radical Muslim than a Western liberal. We know though, that Roof was politically motivated and it was by right wing racial rhetoric.

I’ll say it again, guys, Dylann Roof is a right-winger.

And one more thing, you have to also think, where do many of these events happen? Where in the United States do you find places with the most strife and racial tension? It’s always in these crappy red states. It’s always in places where you’ve got stand your ground laws (which I must clarify don’t apply here), Republican governors, and “free market” policies. This Ferguson Belt arising in GOP America is widely characterized by hateful attacks and police brutality followed by scores of conservatives who excuse it in one way or another. They have for years said that their neck of the woods represent “real America”, but if that’s the case, sign me up for French citizenship.

Conservatives must confront the racial elements within their movements and reform themselves, or face some serious electoral annihilation.

I implore anyone who is unhappy with this to do everything in their power to work for change. Tired of Republicans in office and the baggage that comes with it? Campaign like your life depends on it. The life of his country, in many ways, does.